019: Plantasia, Diego Rivera, and a birthday wishlist
Plus, Mexico City tiles
Welcome to In the Clouds, where I share what I've been consuming and what I find inspiring.
Hi there, thanks for coming. It’s lovely to have you here.
👖 Pea Lauer by Bella Rhodes
My friend Bella, formerly at Bode, created a clothing line with beautifully handmade pieces—for your body and your home! The website is incredible!! The first drop is on March 1st!!! Check it out!!!!!
You also may notice a familiar face on the site…
🖼️ A study of Mexican tiles
I took a little ~business trip~ to Mexico City in the beginning of February and, as always, fell in love with the beauty and life of the city. I took some photos of my favorite tiles.
Beautiful, mesmerizing, unique.
🗞️ The strange story of the album Plantasia
A lovely writeup about this beautifully strange, warm album. The first song makes me feel like a claymation mouse landing on the moon.
“Plantasia is both crazy and wonderful. The separate yet intertwined stories that led to Plantasia – the business, the people around it, the way the album turned from a throwaway novelty into a perennial classic – are stranger than fiction.”
🗞️ Severance is filmed in a building that reimagined corporate life
A look inside Bell Laboratories and its iconic history.
🎁 Birthday wishlist
I was going to write a whole thing about birthdays and getting older but it turns out I don’t have that much to say about them.
Aging is a privilege; I am grateful to be getting older, wiser, and I am eager to welcome whatever else might come with that. Here’s to twenty eight years on earth.
Instead of overthinking my age, I put together a list of items that have caught my eye recently, packaged together as my unrealistic birthday wishlist.
Banzo Bond blazer: I went to the Banzo store in Mexico City last week and I regret not trying on everything in the store. This blazer lives in my head rent-free. The black one could be an iconic bridal look…
MNZ metallic Serafina flats: I have recently had a fixation with round toe flats with a block heel. I long for the perfect middle ground between a true flat and a kitten heel.
Stainless steel ice cream bowls: I am a simple woman. I want to eat dessert out of a beautiful vessel. Is that too much to ask?
Jean Paul Gaultier Berlin Wall mesh top: I love any printed mesh top and this one is the king of them all.
Lichen Incense holder by Rahul Gowthaman for Shinko: I take candle and incense holders very seriously!!!!!
Santos by Monica Triangle bag: I feel I am growing out of my tiny Baggu bag, as practical as it is, and I need a large stylish bag for every day use. I love that this one is shaped like a triangle. Learned about this great brand from
’s wonderful newsletter!!Cecilia horse knit sweater: I probably won’t buy this $580 sweater and instead might attempt to spend a year of my life trying to knit it.
Stainless steel cake stand: for my flans.
Alexander Calder-esque initials brooch: This is the third time I have shared this brooch on the newsletter.
🗞️ How to Begin by
A lovely essay sitting in my Substack saved folder I come back to often on “deep copying” as a creative practice and strategies for beginning essays.
Copying teaches technique and taste. It works for design and writing and many other disciplines. But with writing, I find that faithfully copying a work isn’t as instructive. What seems to be more useful is an approach I’ve been thinking of as ‘deep copying.’
📖 Un Retrato de Diego, La Revolucion de la Mirada, 2007
This book is a compilation of images from a 1949 documentary by Gabriel Figueroa about Diego Rivera, created to capture the artist’s creative process. It’s beautifully composed and includes various essays on Rivera, his work, and his legacy. I love his big hat.
🪞 We’re so back / It’s so over
Thanks for reading see u next timeeeee xoxo
See you next time. On the first Monday of the month, you can expect Asset Library and on the third Monday of the month you can expect In the Clouds in your inboxes.